[Magdalen] Stewardship video: Hello! Full Video -

[Grace Cangialosi]

Don, I'm sitting in my car at the moment and getting ready to go home to listen to Obama's address, but I'm going to follow this up at length, because I recently did a stint as interim at a church, once lily-white, that is remarkably welcoming.
Two great incidents from there.
Later,
Grace

> On Nov 20, 2014, at 7:08 PM, "Don Boyd" <thedonboyd at austin.rr.com> wrote:
> 
> I believe that every public utterance by, or on behalf of, the church is necessarily (though maybe not intentionally) evangelizing or counterevangelizing.  When we mean to say "This is who we are, and we hope you'll come and be with us," I think we need to be careful not to say "This is who we are, and if you don't like that, then just walk right on by."
> 
> Not having seen "The Book of Mormon" I did not consider the possibility that the video could be a parody.    I still believe that we should, nay MUST, (1) welcome into our midst all who wish to come in, and (2) actively seek out and invite those who have found themselves unwelcome in other worshipping communities.
> 
> I am probably overreactive around this issue.  I acknowledge that for many years I participated in congregations that sought and welcomed only those who resembled those who were already present, and was blissfully unaware that in so doing we were
> excluding people who, though different from us in some way, were as much beneficiaries of Jesus' love and as needful of saving grace as we were.
> 
> Grace, thank you for your irenic response to my post.
> 
> Don
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Grace Cangialosi" <gracecan at gmail.com>
> To: <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
> Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2014 3:07 PM
> Subject: Re: [Magdalen] Stewardship video: Hello! Full Video -
> 
> 
> Don,
> While I do see your point, I didn't view this as an evangelizing tool at all...just a blatant pitch for money from parishioners. Why would you try to evangelize by focusing on a stewardship campaign?
> Maybe I'd better try to watch it again from a different perspective. It would seem to give an outsider the impression that we're all a bunch of preppy white folks with male-only clergy.
> 
>> On Nov 20, 2014, at 1:57 PM, "Don Boyd" <thedonboyd at austin.rr.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Of course I'm in a parish that was founded so the lilywhite parishes wouldn't have to deal with black Episcopalians who were beginning to arrive in Austin) and that has over time come to understand itself as the "Black EC" in town as "the church where anyone who has felt unwelcomed elsewhere can find a welcome.  "Wherever you are in your journey of faith, you are welcome at this table" is said at every Eucharist, and the practice of radical hospitality is high on every agenda.  Thus I'm not put off by campy tone of the video which implies an appeal to a particular group of people who are welcome in many churches only if they are careful not to make themselves noticed.
>> 
>> And I do understand that all advertisers (including churches) must carefully consider exactly who they want to attract.  That said, the reaction to Lynn's post suggests to me an attitude of "we certainly wouldn't want to attract the kind of people who like this video!" and I think that's sad.  In my view we'll never be able to love the world and serve the world as we're called to do until we can get comfortable worshipping with people who are quite different from ourselves--in politics, in education, in social class, in ethnicity, in "churchmanship."
>> 
>> Just my $0.02 worth, beloveds.
>> 
>> Don in Austin
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lynn Ronkainen" <ichthys89 at comcast.net>
>> To: "M list" <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2014 7:01 PM
>> Subject: [Magdalen] Stewardship video: Hello! Full Video -
>> 
>> 
>>> from St. James Cathedral Chicago... link featured in Dio of TX weekly email newsletter!
>>> 
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNGWSJBD5UY
>>> 
>>> Lynn
>